The Hindu Business Line : Training to be a <I>neta </I>

As a journalist I had encountered many politicians who had no clue what to do with a particular Act or how to utilise the money allocated to their fund. I wanted to be on the other side of the table, become a politician and be able to answer any questions from the people and also work better. But I needed some training and so I joined this programme in political governance," says Mamata Sen, who works at a business daily in Mumbai. She is among a bunch of highly enthusiastic women, who have been successful in their respective fields and now want to try their hand at politics.

College lecturers, journalist, airhostess, NGO workers and others figure in this first batch of 25 students that recently completed a six-month programme conducted by the Centre for Development of Corporate Citizenship at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, a constituent of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai.

"We felt there is a need to bring professionalism in the field of politics in India. And women, for some reason, always shy away from joining politics, which generally results in the waste of many reserved seats for women. We wanted to encourage them so that when they get elected they know how to govern and not become mere rubber stamps of men," explains Nirja Mattoo, chairperson of the centre.

The Institute believes that with proper training even politics can be a perfect career.

The six-month, weekend programme costs Rs 20,000 per student. Apart from imparting information, the course helps participants analyse and act upon the economic, social, political and environmental factors that impact public policies and programmes. Core issues relating to government functioning, public administration, finance and budgeting, constitutional studies and election strategies are taught. Students receive hands-on work experience during a month-long training at a political party office.

"Luckily for our batch, the Maharashtra Assembly elections were on during the same period and all of us got to work with different political parties in the heat of the election fever. We went on the campaign trail, worked at the party offices and interacted with political bigwigs as well as workers. This gave us a real insight into the world of politics," says Laxmi Padmanabhan, a former English lecturer of L.U. and M.V. College at Andheri who hopes to contest an election some day.

During the elections she worked with Alka Desai, a Congress (I) candidate from Mulund. In fact, Laxmi's batch-mate Vandana Pradeep, a lecturer at SIES College, even contested as an independent candidate from Borivali. The training programme aims to sensitise women and make them proactive politically. It invites women to go out and fight battles to get a better life rather than sit at home and criticise or curse the Government.

Says Nirja, "Our course deals with legal and constitutional matters, political studies, current issues, managing people — a crucial aspect for a politician, fund raising, event management, public finance, accounting and, of course, communications and personality development."

Ratnaprabha Aihre, an airhostess with Indian Airlines, says the course has made her a better communicator and given her better awareness of her rights. Puja Sukhija who runs Oasis, an NGO, says the course gave her new insights on running her organisation more efficiently and fund-raising.

To give the programme a cutting edge, guest lecturers including George Fernandes and Anna Hazare, event managers, financers, women's rights activists, lawyers and State Government officials were invited.

The minimum qualification for participants is Plus Two. Women working with NGOs and involved in other social welfare activities are given preference, as Nirja feels that women workers at the grassroots level need to be empowered with knowledge to help their organisations function better.

As the course is conducted during the weekend, it is convenient for working women to join too. The institute provides hostel facilities for outstation students.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Now you see me...

Locality matters

An elixir called soya

Lavished with style

Looking beyond silk...

A direct hit

A lab you can trust

Training to be a neta

Café-hopping in Vienna

Coorg capers